Video game review by ERIK LEIJON

Allow me a brief moment to reminisce.

In late 2001, early 2002, I was but a young, impressionable boy attending the ultimate den of malfeasance known as John Abbott College (if you’ve never been, consult that friend of yours with the hemp shirt and Sublime box set). As one might expect, school was a bummer, so I would hightail it to Basil’s Arcade nearby. To call it an arcade was a stretch; it was a diner with two old arcade machines and a warped pool table that usually had quarters jammed in the rusted slots.

Anyways, the one working machine was a Konami Benami title called Guitar Freaks, which featured a guitar controller with three fret buttons and a shitload of Japanese pop tunes. I didn’t, and still don’t, have any experience actually playing music, but I would hone my skills there almost every day—while munching on curly fries. It irks me slightly that fans call Guitar Hero II (PS2/Activision, Red Octane) the sequel to the original guitar game, since it isn’t, but I will concede that, unequivocally, it is the best.

GH2 is a music game where Jimmy Page wannabes rock on a guitar peripheral (which comes with the game in an $80 package). It features five fret buttons on the neck, a bar for strumming and a whammy bar. The notes (corresponding to the different colours of each fret button) pass along the screen, and the player must hold the correct fret button and toggle the strum bar in accordance. The whammy bar can be used to change the sound when playing long notes. Tilting the guitar up can also transform the screen into star mode. There are three modes of play: easy (three fret buttons only), medium (four) and hard (all five).

It’s deceptively simple, but as a video game player it required a re-circuiting of my brain to learn to play with my four fingers, and to slide my fingers without looking. Instead of Japanese pop, the soundtrack is a who’s who of classic rock, performed by very impressive sound-a-likes. The best/hardest was “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers, but material from the likes of Butthole Surfers and Reverend Horton Heat were fun to play. At four frets, it’s very difficult, but at five frets, it’s near impossible.

The multiplayer is a completely different experience from career mode. Players can choose to play with or against a friend (naturally, two guitars are needed), and there’s an option to play lead guitar, or rhythm guitar/lead bass, depending on the song. The bass/guitar combo on Rage’s “Killing in the Name” is especially chaotic.

On my old television and my beat-up PS2, I was having some minor sound quibbles in stereo and mono with the multiplayer (such as not being able to hear when the second player messes up), but it rarely detracted from the fun. Even at a steep price, Guitar Hero II rocks out harder than Jack Black ever could.

Where am I?

I recently went on a road trip and took along the new Microsoft Streets & Trips 2007 with GPS locator for my laptop. The Windows interface worked well (although slightly bland), and gave reliable, up-to-date driving directions, but altering the original course path and finding specific chain restaurants was a tad difficult.

You have to download new maps right away, so install the software at home, since it’s unlikely your car has wi-fi capabilities. It costs $50 without the GPS locator, and $140 with, and is more reliable than mapquest-ing your next road trip.